Space Station Down, by Ben Bova and Doug Beason

Space Station Down, by Ben Bova and Doug Beason, starts off with a great premise: a cosmonaut and a space tourist arrive at the International Space Station and immediately start killing the crew.  They announce their intent to drop the ISS out of orbit, spew radioactive matter across the entire eastern part of the United States, and crash it into the heart of New York City, the impact of which will be far greater than an atomic bomb.

What they didn't count on was the presence of Kimberly Hasid-Robinson, the ISS chief who evades their initial attack and, as the sole surviving ISS crew member, has to figure out how to use her wits to foil their dastardly plan.  She is a brave, powerful, resourceful, and wily foe, who these criminals did not anticipate.

Besides the suspenseful standoff between Kimberly and the terrorists, which is most of the story, what I enjoyed most about Space Station Down was the realism.  Obviously, I have never been to the ISS.  Neither have Bova or Beason.  But they provide enough detail that I was fully convinced that the details about the ISS were accurate and realistic.  I feel confident that if I pulled up a schematic of ISS, it would reflect the descriptions in the story.

Space Station Down combines the things I enjoy about sci-fi: a near-future setting that utilizes current technology (with perhaps some speculation about next level tech), convincingly realistic depictions of the science, strong story elements of suspense, tension, romance, human relationships, and characters I can relate to and root for or against.  I'm not saying I hate sci-fi with aliens, fanciful technology, or philosophical explorations, but Space Station Down pushed a lot of buttons for me.  I enjoyed it a lot.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!